WASHINGTON, D.C., April 16 — The Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) is pleased to announce that Ms. Lisa Arafune will be joining the organization as Director.
Ms. Arafune comes to the position with a wealth of experience in government relations, including more than a decade representing higher education and university-based research interests on Capitol Hill. She has advocated for the research community and major federal science agencies, including NSF, DOD, USDA, NIH, DOE, and NASA.
Ms. Arafune holds a Master’s of Science in Management from Purdue University and an MBA from Budapest University of Economic Sciences.
Lisa Arafune said: “I welcome the opportunity to join the CASC team and continue the tradition to bring together the leaders of our community. My goal is to act as a conduit to keep our membership informed of strategic opportunities that will lead to their institution’s success.”
Previously, Ms. Arafune led her own government relations firm, and managed federal relations for Purdue University as Director of the Washington, DC Office. Her interest in politics began when working in a state senate and later as Chief Clerk for a U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Committee.
Curt Hillegas, CASC Chair and Princeton University Associate CIO for Research Computing stated: “Ms. Arafune’s extensive Capitol Hill and agency experience will be great assets in communicating the importance of U.S. advanced computing as well as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for our nation’s economic prosperity, health, and security.”
Ms. Arafune takes over for Ms. Sue Fratkin, who has served as the Washington Liaison of CASC since its founding in 1990. Ms. Fratkin devoted her career to public policy analysis, concentrating on technology and telecommunications issues, particularly as they affect the higher education community. She helped to grow CASC from its original 12 institutions to 81 university, national laboratory and medical high-performance computing (HPC) members. As a nationally recognized expert in technology policy, Ms. Fratkin led CASC’s charge to maintain leadership in HPC across U.S. government agencies.
About CASC
The Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) is an educational nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with 81 member institutions, representing many of the nation’s most forward-thinking universities and computing centers. CASC is dedicated to advocating use of the most advanced computing technology to accelerate scientific discovery for national competitiveness, global security, and economic success, as well as develop a diverse and well-prepared 21st century workforce.
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Source: CASC